Linked list questions - c

Question

Hey so i am trying to create a linked list. The following code segment opens the file for reading, which then gets passed into a function to take the string break it down and place it into a node which is suppose to be placed into the list in an appropriate location.
void print_list(struct vm_node *root);
int addNodeBottom(char *val, struct vm_node *head);
struct stock_item* setupNode(char *line);
int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {
struct vm vm;
struct menu_item menu_items[NUM_MENU_ITEMS];
struct vm_node *vmNode;
vmNode = malloc(sizeof(struct vm_node));
/* The UNUSED() function is designed to prevent warnings while your
* code is only partially complete. Delete these 4 function calls once
* you are using the data structures declared above in your own code */
UNUSED(argc);
UNUSED(argv);
UNUSED(vm);
UNUSED(menu_items);
if (argc != 3) {
printf("insuffcient arguments \n");
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
/*open stock file*/
char* fileName = argv[1];
FILE *file;
file = fopen(fileName, "r+");
char buf[256];
vmNode->next = NULL;
while (fgets(buf, sizeof buf, file) != NULL) {
addNodeBottom(buf,vmNode);
}
print_list(vmNode);
/* Test reason for reaching NULL. */
if (feof(file)) /* if failure caused by end-of-file condition */
puts("End of file reached");
else if (ferror(file)) /* if failure caused by some other error */
{
perror("fgets()");
fprintf(stderr, "fgets() failed in file %s at line # %d\n", __FILE__,
__LINE__ - 9);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
fclose(file);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
the following function is how i have described the setupNode function.
struct stock_item* setupNode(char *line) {
struct stock_item *root;
root = malloc(sizeof(struct stock_item));
char *ptr;
const char del[2] = "|";
const char delm[2] = ".";
char *prices;
strcpy(root->id, strtok_r(line, del, &ptr)); // returns the ID and stores in in the root node.
strcpy(root->name, strtok_r(NULL, del, &ptr)); // returns the description and stores it in the root node.
strcpy(root->description, strtok_r(NULL, del, &ptr)); // returns the description and stores it in the root node.
prices = strtok_r(NULL, del, &ptr); // returns a string of the price for vm_item.
int dol = atoi(strtok(prices, delm));
int cent = atoi(strtok(NULL, delm));
root->price.dollars = dol;
root->price.cents = cent;
int quantity = atoi(strtok_r(NULL, del, &ptr)); // returns how many items are in stock.
root->on_hand = quantity;
return root;
}
This is the addNode function
int addNodeBottom(char *val, struct vm_node *head){
//create new node
struct vm_node *newNode = malloc(sizeof(struct vm_node));
if(newNode == NULL){
printf("%s", "Unable to allocate memory for new node\n");
exit(-1);
}
newNode->data = setupNode(val);
newNode->next = NULL; // Change 1
//check for first insertion
if(head->next == NULL){
head->data = newNode->data;
head->next = newNode;
}
else
{
//else loop through the list and find the last
//node, insert next to it
struct vm_node *current = head;
while (TRUE) { // Change 2
if(current->next == NULL)
{
current->next = newNode;
break; // Change 3
}
current = current->next;
};
}
free(newNode);
return 0;
}
and the printList function
void print_list(struct vm_node *root) {
while (root) {
printf("%s ", root->data->id);
root = root->next;
}
printf("\n");
}
Here is the typeDefs
#ifndef VM_TYPE
#define VM_TYPE
#define IDLEN 5
#define NAMELEN 40
#define DESCLEN 255
#define NUMDENOMS 8
#define UNUSED(var) (void)var
#define COIN_COUNT 20
#define DEFAULT_ONHAND 20
/* Type definition for our boolean type */
typedef enum truefalse
{
FALSE, TRUE
} BOOLEAN;
/* Each price will have a dollars and a cents component */
struct price
{
unsigned dollars,cents;
};
/* The different denominations of coins available */
enum denomination
{
FIVE_CENTS, TEN_CENTS, TWENTY_CENTS, FIFTY_CENTS, ONE_DOLLAR,
TWO_DOLLARS, FIVE_DOLLARS, TEN_DOLLARS
};
/* Each coin in the coins array will have a denomination (20 cents,
* 50 cents, etc) and a count - how many of that coin do we have on hand
*/
struct coin
{
enum denomination denom;
unsigned count;
};
/* The data structure that holds the data for each item of stock
*/
struct stock_item
{
char id[IDLEN+1];
char name[NAMELEN+1];
char description[DESCLEN+1];
struct price price;
unsigned on_hand;
};
/* The data structure that holds a pointer to the stock_item data and a
* pointer to the next node in the list
*/
struct vm_node
{
struct stock_item * data;
struct vm_node * next;
};
/* The head of the list - has a pointer to the rest of the list and a
* stores the length of the list
*/
struct vm_list
{
struct vm_node * head;
unsigned length;
};
/* This is the head of our overall data structure. We have a pointer to
* the vending machine list as well as an array of coins.
*/
struct vm
{
struct vm_list * item_list;
struct coin coins[NUMDENOMS];
char * foodfile;
char * coinsfile;
};
#endif
and the format of the text file that is being read in for parsing.
I0001|Coke |375 ml Can of coke |3.50|50
I0002|Pepsi |375 ml Can of pepsi |3.00|20
I0003|Lemon Cheesecake|A delicious, 1/8 size slice of cheesecake |4.00|10
I0004|Mars Bar |A delicious 50 g Mars Bar chilled just the way you like it.|3.00|20
I0005|Lemon Tart |A delicious lemon butter tart with a pastry based |3.75|12
The output when trying to print the list is complete garbage so any thoughts?

Answer 1

You have undefined behavior, because in addNodeBottom you make e.g. current->next point the new node you allocate, then you free the new node, so the pointer in current->next now point to unallocated memory.
Also, when setting up the first node (when head->next is NULL) then don't set the next pointer of head, let it be NULL. Instead to distinguish between an empty list or not, check for a non-null data field:
if (head->data == NULL)
{
// List is empty
}
else
{
// List is not empty
}
Other tips: There's no need to allocate a new node until you actually add it to the list. And the loop to find the last node in the list can be simplified to this:
vm_node *current;
for (current = head; current->next != NULL; current = current->next)
{
// Empty loop body
}
After the above loop current will be the last node in the list, and you can now allocate a new node.
If I would rewrite the addNodeBottom function (without modifying the function signature), it would look something like this (without any error handling):
int addNodeBottom(char *val, struct vm_node *head){
//create new node
stock_item *data = setupNode(val);
if (head->data == NULL)
head->data = data;
else
{
vm_node *current;
for (current = head; current->next != NULL; current = current->next)
;
current->next = malloc(sizeof(*current->next));
current->next->data = data;
current->next->next = NULL;
}
return 0;
}
Note: You must set vmNode->data = NULL before calling the above function for the first time, not only vmNode->next.

Answer 2

The main issue is because you are creating a new Node, storing data in it and then deleting the new node using free.
I understand your logic as it is now in the list so you do not need it anymore. But that is not the issue. In the list you merely put a pointer that points to the new node you created. You do not copy the new node in the list. You only put a pointer that points to the allocated memory for the node you created. If you free that part of the memory then it no longer exists and that part can be overwritten by any other application or yours. So it ends up being garbage.